EP 3377407 A4 20190710 - A MICROWAVE ELECTROTHERMAL THRUSTER ADAPTED FOR IN-SPACE ELECTROTHERMAL PROPULSION
Title (en)
A MICROWAVE ELECTROTHERMAL THRUSTER ADAPTED FOR IN-SPACE ELECTROTHERMAL PROPULSION
Title (de)
ELEKTROTHERMISCHES MIKROWELLENTRIEBWERK FÜR ELEKTROTHERMISCHEN ANTRIEB IM WELTRAUM
Title (fr)
PROPULSEUR ÉLECTROTHERMIQUE HYPERFRÉQUENCE CONÇU POUR LA PROPULSION ÉLECTROTHERMIQUE DANS L'ESPACE
Publication
Application
Priority
- IN 4333MU2015 A 20151118
- IN 2016050409 W 20161117
Abstract (en)
[origin: WO2017085746A1] The present invention relates to a Microwave Electrothermal Thruster(MET) adapted for in-space electrothermal propulsion comprising a tunable frequency Microwave Electrothermal Thruster propulsion module enabling primary propulsion and altitude control of a satellite/spacecraft wherein RF Semiconductors is introduced for the first time as microwave generator inside cavity body to increase its efficiency and respond time and to make the thruster capable of operating in two frequencies by mechanically tuning its cavity making such thruster compact and light weight. The free-floating plasma within the resonant cavity couples the incident electrical power directly to the tangentially injected propellant gas. The plasma forms by focusing the microwave energy into the first transverse magnetic mode and operates independent of the type of propellant gas used. Also, for the first time, Shape Memory Alloy is introduced into the thruster cavity to enable faster and effective tuning of the resonant cavity diameter, when switching between two operational frequencies.
IPC 8 full level
F03H 1/00 (2006.01); B64G 1/40 (2006.01); B64G 1/42 (2006.01)
CPC (source: EP US)
B64G 1/405 (2023.08 - US); B64G 1/409 (2013.01 - US); B64G 1/413 (2023.08 - EP); B64G 1/42 (2013.01 - US); F03H 1/0093 (2013.01 - EP US); B64G 1/26 (2013.01 - EP US)
Citation (search report)
- [A] DE 4310821 A1 19941020 - ERNO RAUMFAHRTTECHNIK GMBH [DE]
- [Y] WHITEHAIR S ET AL: "Microwave Electrothermal Thruster Performance in Helium Gas", JOURNAL OF PROPULSION AND POWER,, vol. 3, no. 2, 1 March 1987 (1987-03-01), pages 136 - 144, XP001329798
- [Y] MICHAEL M MICCI: "Low-Power Solid-State Microwave Thruster Systems", SPACECRAFT PROPULSION, THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE HELD 10-13 OCTOBER, 2000 AT CANNES, FRANCE, 1 December 2000 (2000-12-01), pages 203 - 209, XP055593158, ISBN: 978-92-9-092701-3
- See also references of WO 2017085746A1
Designated contracting state (EPC)
AL AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MK MT NL NO PL PT RO RS SE SI SK SM TR
DOCDB simple family (publication)
WO 2017085746 A1 20170526; WO 2017085746 A4 20170803; EP 3377407 A1 20180926; EP 3377407 A4 20190710; JP 2018535353 A 20181129; JP 6661012 B2 20200311; US 10836513 B2 20201117; US 2018327118 A1 20181115
DOCDB simple family (application)
IN 2016050409 W 20161117; EP 16865900 A 20161117; JP 2018526141 A 20161117; US 201615776613 A 20161117